


Meet the Wolf

by Shatterpath



Series: Once Upon an Alternate Universe [7]
Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/F, Threesome - F/F/F, Werewolves
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-02-14
Updated: 2013-02-14
Packaged: 2017-11-29 07:03:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,258
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/684187
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shatterpath/pseuds/Shatterpath
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>As the title says, Regina finally gets to meet Ruby's alter-ego.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Meet the Wolf

It's taken a couple full moons, but I have finally gotten the opportunity to meet Ruby's other half. It was a fascinating experience to watch, that familiar lanky body collapsing and twisting to the four-legged shape she wears these three nights a month. Both Emma and I felt the primitive fear of our ancestors, huddled about a fire that offered scant safety from the dangers of the darkness. Shaking her shaggy head, Ruby had looked at us with gleaming eyes, body language wary, nostrils flaring. 

"Be careful, lover," Emma had murmured as she let the wolf out the front door and into the cool night. We'd waited quietly, door open, for some time, until the reassuring howl of her presence sounded in the distance.

Now, we're cuddled on the couch, mostly asleep, waiting for morning or Ruby's return. She's told us how she always wakes in a random place in the forest, never knowing exactly where she is or how she got there. Even once she had learned command over the wolf, morning and sleep always brings oblivion.

But Emma is convinced that this home and pack that she has chosen, without the stresses of being hunted or Granny's suffocating presence, will lead her home. As the magic-user of the family, I have mixed reactions to that certainty. Now, I don't understand how Ruby's family curse works. No magic user from our home land was ever able to really learn anything useful about the werewolves. It is common knowledge how the foolish among us tried to control the beasts, to use them as minions and guards. It never ended well and usually swelled the shape-shifter's numbers.

Idiots.

So, with that knowledge always in the back of my mind, I'd been stunned to watch the transformation, the ease of it. No billows of the purple smoke that has defined so much of my life, no manipulations or torture. Ruby's transformation had been very enlightening. Both of my lovers are inherently powerful magically by their very birthrights. They quietly soothe the rage of need in my body, the pulsing heat of magic that I both crave and dread.

A buzz of awareness, a subtle frisson of magic, wakes me with a start, blinking in the dim room.

There.

A faint scratch of sound, over at the front door.

Heart pounding with instinctual alarm from begin woken unexpectedly and strange sounds at my threshold, I carefully stand away from Emma's sprawled, unconscious body. The woman sleeps with such lovely abandon, sprawled all over the one end of the couch, snoring softly. As I walk through the clinging dark of deep night, that lingering, primitive fear brings magic bubbling to the surface, no matter how hard I fight it. 

I'm still fighting the urge, even as I open the door.

In a draft of cool and the smell of moonlight, Ruby once more enters my life. Head level with her shoulders, eyes gleaming in the faint light, she pads in almost soundlessly, claws clicking on the hard floor. That tapered, dramatic head turns to me, trust and menace mixed in the smoky gaze. Swallowing hard, I remind myself yet again, that I trust this woman, no matter what skin she might wear.

"Ruby," I whisper quietly, asking for her trust once again. "Red."

She blinks, clearly a bit startled, then looks thoughtful. Such a strange expression on such a feral face.

"You came home."

Her delight clearly echoes my own, her whole body perking up.

"Hey Rubes," Emma murmurs from the couch and we both look over to see her stretch and get to wobbly feet. "Good to have you home. Come to bed you two. Morning will come soon enough."

Well, she certainly doesn't have to ask me twice! Taking the offered hand, I follow my love up the stairs, assuming that Ruby is following. I certainly can't hear her! As I step into the bedroom, movement in the dimness makes me smile, as Ruby sniffs around the bottom of Henry's closed door. He's not here, as become the custom on full moons, but his scent must linger here in his home.

Changing into warm pajamas and thick socks at Emma's request, I take care of my nightly routine and startle faintly at the big, round lump of canine at the foot of the bed. The room is chilly, the window cracked more than I’m completely comfortable with in the spring cool, but if it makes Ruby more comfortable, I’ll deal.

In her typically offhand, quickly accomplished manner, Emma cleans up and rocks the big bed by throwing herself in beside me. Sighing gustily, she scoots close and we customarily find a comfortable cuddle. "'Nite Gina," she murmurs sleepily and gives me a sloppy kiss. "'Nite Ruby."

"'Nite Emma," I whisper back, knowing that Ruby cannot, and grin when I feel her canine bulk squirm around, oozing carefully into the small space between our bodies. Chuckling, Emma and I accommodate her, the dramatic wolf head coming to rest like an arrow head near where our hearts rest close together.

The crash of the front door and familiar, thumping footsteps wake me later to blazing sunlight and an uncomfortable chill. Only a moment later, the bedroom door flies open to reveal my wildly grinning son. "Excellent!" He crows, scaring the hell out of my bedmates. "You made it back! Gramma, you own me ten bucks!" Thankfully quieting his voice, Henry steps in to place an unexpected kiss on my head. I'm completely charmed. "'Morning Mom. Why is it so cold in here?"

"God, kid, you scared the hell out of me. The window was open for wolfie senses."

"First time I’ve slept indoors," Ruby adds softly, snuggling into the bed linens with a sharp shiver. "This is definitely better than the forest floor."

"I'll get it," Henry volunteers, closing the offending window and cutting off the sounds of a peaceful, small-town morning. Moaning pitifully, Ruby oozes off the bed, giving Henry an offhand hug as she heads for the bathroom.

"It could be worse, Rubes," Emma chuckles, still mostly asleep. "You could leave your clothes behind."

"Ugh, don't remind me!"

"You guys don't need to get up. David's going to take me to tend to my pony and we're going to practice sword fighting some more. Is that okay?"

Gratified that he's asking and not acting out, I nod. "Absolutely. Have fun and I’m sure we'll join you later, if you'd like."

"Cool!" He enthuses and Emma chimes in.

"How about lunch? That's a few hours away, isn't it?"

"Okay, come find me and we'll do lunch. See you later!"

With a thundering racket of feet, he rampages quickly through his room and down the stairs, slamming the heavy front door behind him. Only then does Ruby stick her head out of the bathroom. "Is is safe?"

"Hurricane Henry has left the building," Emma chuckles and a happily naked Ruby pads over to look at us piteously.

"Can I get under the covers this time?"

Cracking up, we make room and I shiver from the cool air sneaking in with Ruby's lithe body. Sighing happily, she snuggles in, choosing this time to drape herself over Emma, who mockingly grumbles about being squashed. It's always a coin toss as to who gets squished, and I snuggle back into Ruby's warming skin.

"Glad you came home last night," I murmur as sleep once more tickles at my body and brain. A loving hand caresses over my hip as Ruby whispers back.

"So am I."


End file.
